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Lime advice please.

pH = 5.7. Fields are long term meadow grass. Moderate moss. Moderate slope. Just Gly’d yesterday. My plan is to no till seed in1-2 weeks. Do I need to disk in lime? Will no till drill do it well enough? Hate to have to disk if I don’t need to. Don’t want lime to just wash away. Soil saturated now but dry weather forecast for next week. Thanks.

Are you putting down pelltized lime or regular ag lime? Pelletized lime will be utilized more quickly than regular ag lime, but it is more spendy. Unless you get a hard rain, I would think you wouldn’t lose much of it. The existing grass and moss would also help in keeping it in place somewhat as well, I would think. It would be best to incorporate it into the soil, but agreed, it would be best not to till, as you expose more dormant weed seeds. I realize it’s more time and money, but could you disk it after liming it, wait till you get a new flush of weeds, no till plant into that, then spray it again right after planting it? What are you planting?

Planning on Ag lime. Planting alfalfa in 1 field and prepping for winter wheat and brassicas in another. I could disk it in the non alfalfa field then spray again before planting. The alfalfa field is flatter. Just wasn’t sure if lime is effective by applying on the surface without working it in. We will get some heavy rain this month. Thanks

I’m far from an expert. Actually in school terms I guess you could say I’m the equivalent of a sophomore in terms of food plotting.

Right now I’m kicking myself for not liming during the winter for my new food plots I will be planting in the next few weeks.

Bottom line, if your ph is low, lime ASAP.

Creek Chub's bottom line is.....the bottom line. As soon as possible and I recommend discing it in to at least root depth. My understanding is the lime actually has to touch the soil to be viable, so I see no GOOD alternative. You can put it on top and hope I guess, but I'd rather disc it in, then a light dose of gly again if you get new weed/grass growth before planting. Good luck !

That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll disk it in. When new weeds come I’ll spray again then do a no till drill later. Thx

The best time to put down lime is 6 months to a year ago. Lime takes some time to break down into the soil.

What do any of you think of the liquid lime or calcium? I see adds for it quite a bit. Will it work?

Anybody try solu cal? Curious if it is good as advertised for when you want to plant in less than ideal ph conditions. Also Pennington has a rapid lime that may be comparable

Not sure if I would spend the money or time to plant alfalfa until the pH comes up. I understand the alfalfa roots go deep and it may take at least a year for the lime to get deep enough. Most clovers will grow at the pH you have now and maybe a good crop for one or two seasons until the lime can become effective.

Alfalfa is ph sensitive , I would say you need to be over a ph of 6.5 before even thinking of planting alfalfa. Brassic also needs to be over 6 to get full growth potential, it will be tinted red/purple/pink if the ph is too low. Low ph , you will be wasting time and money with fertilizer. Use Pelletized lime, it will react with the soil much quicker.

I've been food plotting for 25 or more years. Starting right from cutting down oaks trees and making a plot to planting old fields. From my experience nothing works as well and lasts as long as ag lime and disk it in is a must. After soil testing I've had to put down as much as 6 ton to 1 acre. After about 6 months the soil is in most cases is workable. But adjustment of pH can go on for 6 or more months. Ed

My NRCS guys tell me that the local farmers do alfalfa down to pH of 5.2 around here, but i find that hard to believe. I will use pellitized lime this year. Turns out too hard to get bulk Ag lime into the area. I hear what y'all say about waiting a year for the alfalfa. Probably a good idea.

lime early, lime often, lime heavily.

Your soil parent material affects the duration and efficacy of the pH moderation.

In my area (shallow soils generated off sedimentary rock) sandstone colluvial soils need heavy lime application to begin with, and frequent light re application. Limestone residual soils need moderate initial application and occasional light re-applications, shale residual or shale colluvial soils need heavy initial application, and frequent heavy re-applications, alluvial soils vary quite a bit but usually frequent light applications are best.

I am going to pound it the best I can. Part of my plots will be consisting of low pH tolerant plants such as Sainfoin and small Burnet, but I will blast the acreage that will be winter wheat and brassicas as well as my clover/alfalfa area. Not easy getting lime in by wet logging roads. thanks.

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